Colourslide - Everbody's Right About...

The sophomore album from Gainesville, FL's Colourslide is 11 radio-ready singles that teem with the trappings of super stardom, mainstream accessibility and cult-like status. Album opener "Reasons" is urgent and fractious and takes off like a speed boat from the very first seconds. Guided by a slinky synth, it's a pounding dance-inspired track that's brimming with sweat, sex and hot-blooded passion. It is evident from the song's first 60 seconds that guitarist Dean Newman is an admirer of U2's The Edge and vocalist Alex Lawhon a disciple of Bono.

Proof of the band's U2-like swagger is evident in second cut "Lucky #1," a propulsive and shimmering anthem with a sweeping chorus and deeply-felt guitars that seem destined for stadium singalongs. Though the album's one-two punch is potent and consuming, the band decides to show their softer side with the acoustic ballad "Chemistry." For all its many charms, the song is in essence a vehicle for the band to display Lawhon's vocal breadth and the band's deft command of deeply affecting balladry. Anchored by the singer's dreamy falsetto, "Chemistry," is a lightly-ringing paean to sentimentality, tenderness and the tangled webs of a murky romance.

The notion of a murky romance is broadcast loud and clear on the cheeky kiss-off "Komplikated." There's something potent and precise in every nuanced second that seems too good to be true. From the rhythm section to the guitars to Lawhon's cranky crooning, "Komplikated," is everything that's captivating about rock music. Synth-inspired, loopy swirls mark the beginning to Colourslide's quirky interpretation of Tom Petty's seminal classic "You Got Lucky." It's undeniably different from Petty's by-the-book rendition, but the chorus, good God, is it infectious. More urgent, more sensual, a bit noisier, it's a solid reworking of an early 80s classic. One can easily see this being the band's hallmark and their ticket to the top, and if that is to be their fate, there are far worse things to be remembered for.

From there the album takes on a life of it's own and strings together a series of aural juggernauts. The Remy Zero-inspired "Signal Flare," leaps from the speakers like a siren and struts around the psyche with a swagger, confidence and precision that's enviable, awe-inspiring and downright intoxicating. Similarly to the band's opening triumvirate, the quartet once again chases down balladry with the muted acoustics of the haunting "Through the Crowd." Celestial, autumnal and chill-inducing, "Through the Crowd," vividly illustrates the rich production work of producer and mutli-instrumentalist Ted Comerford (Army of Me, ZOX, Jukebox the Ghost, et. al). Layered, atmospheric and ornate, the song is carried forward by Lawhon's falsetto and the verses, "We are hunting our ghosts in the bitter cold, though we catch none, it's the chase that's fun, we'll try all our lives."

Scissored guitars and a splashy synth marks the opening to "I Should Die For You," a hip-swaying, Brit-inspired pop sendup that finds Lawhon pleading, "I don't need to be reformed, I just need to come unglued and that is a feeling that is new." If there's one minor complaint about the disc, it's that those very words feels a bit strange being uttered in a song that's so buoyant and sun-drenched. But in the annals of rock history, there are indeed far worse moments than that. As if cognizant of this confusing turn of events, the Floridians go for something far simpler on the jangly singalong "The Weight Of The World."A by-the-book radio number, the song features a soaring chorus and chiming guitars. It also presents what is arguably the album's best set of lyrics: "The wrecking ball is straight on course, you're still the one that I abhor. I'm irritated to the core, but I love you anyway. I'm never letting go."

Having already strung together nine surefire crowd pleasers, Lawhon and Comerford end the album with two of the more memorable tracks released this year. Penultimate cut "Better," is a slowly moving, deeply absorbing, mid-tempo arrangement about self-respect that finds Lawhon analyzing dreams about UFOs and ivy-colored walls. A marked departure from that is the album's final cut, "Plastic Rock n' Roll," a profoundly disturbing ballad buttressed by an airy organ and a supple acoustic guitar. With daring lyrics and a cynical worldview, this leave-it-all-on-the-table conclusion seems destined to be adored by thousands. Ever appropriate, painstakingly accurate and deeply melodic, it is for all intents and purposes a near-masterpiece.

These days, finding a disc without filler is nearly impossible and yet in just four years Colourslide have now penned two albums with very, if any flaws. Markedly more confident, precise, and daring than the band's self-titled debut, Everybody's Right About Everybody is a richly textured, wholly engrossing work of staggering power. Though it's lofty to say, listening to this disc feels like listening to U2 in the early 80’s. There’s just something that screams mega-hit potential. While some may sell it short for its visible Top 40 leanings, the band at its core features big, reaching, grandiose, arena-rock songs a la U2, Remy Zero and The Killers.

Thankfully though the band has a bit of indie bent to their songs. There’s tons of cinematic Britpop guitars, bombastic drumming and a large sonic wall of sound that brings to mind Elbow’s Cast of Thousands and Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head. In the end, what separates bands from their contemporaries is their ability to possess magnetism, cohesion and confidence. On Everybody's Right About Everybody, Colourslide effortlessly weaves all three attributes together and has crafted one of the more memorable modern rock releases of the year. It is in a word: riveting.

This is definitely the kind of album I can get behind. No matter how many bands jack this style, I can't help but enjoy it most of the time. This one reminds me a little bit of Your Vegas's A Town and Two Cities from a few years ago, which I played the hell out of. Not sure I like it quite as much, but it's definitely enjoyable.

This is definitely the kind of album I can get behind. No matter how many bands jack this style, I can't help but enjoy it most of the time. This one reminds me a little bit of Your Vegas's A Town and Two Cities from a few years ago, which I played the hell out of. Not sure I like it quite as much, but it's definitely enjoyable.

Yeah, Your Vegas would have been good in the RIYL. Good call. And I'm glad you're digging this. I was hoping someone on staff would find a kinship with it. Stoked that you're the one. Cheers, bud.